Hello all, first time poster, long time lurker, much like my namesake, nyuk nyuk nyuk. God, that was lame...anyway.
I'm on my second attempt now of a freshwater planted 10 gallon tank. My first time around with this very same tank, I was going fine for a few weeks, water levels look great, doing my regular water changes, then, about six weeks in, after purchasing an awesome knife fish to finish my tank, everything died over the course of a night. I woke to find ammonia levels through the roof and all my fish had a strange whiteish coating on them. I treated the survivors with a dip in antifungal meds (the powder based type by API) and treated the tank with Pima-fix Indian bay leaf, plant safe antifungal treatment. No luck, I had 100% mortality, all from similar fungal looking causes, while my ammonia levels stayed sky-rocketted, even with ammochips being used.
I eventually drained the tank, washed everything in hot water, boiled my lava rock and drift wood, then reset the tank with just the plants.
I used the "feeding method" (where you feed the tank a small amount of food on a daily basis to get the nitrogen cycle started), and daily usage of Stability, new tank bacterial supplement. After a week, I checked my pH, KH, and N levels. All great, pH lowish at 6.5, and almost no ammonia, NO[sub]2[/sub] or NO[sub]3[/sub].
I decided to stock my tank, with a dwarf pleco, four fancy guppies and two loaches. I <3 loaches.
This was two days ago. Today, one of the loaches is dead, with partial fin rot. The other loach is lethargic, with a similar fungus like coating, albeit in a very small amount. Two guppies also appear to suffer some slight fin rot, in addition to white tips on their fins. I placed all the sickly creatures in my hospital tank, with a solution of stress coat, aquarium salt, and fungal cure, all diluted to volume. I let them all swim in this for a few minutes, then placed them back in the general populace.
After taking chem readings, I saw that the pH is low, at 6, and the ammonia levels were approaching 1.0 ppm. I have since treated the water with TopFin ammo control solution, and the ammonia levels are dropping.
Sorry if this is too much info, but I'm afraid of another Freshwater Apocalypse. I can't wait to setup my 55 gallon tank and forget all these daily chemical swings.
Tank size:10 g
pH: 6.25~
ammonia: 1.0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: .2
kH: 0
gH: 0
tank temp: 75ºF
Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): Some fish have whitish coating on fins, and near head
Volume and Frequency of water changes: newer tank, no water change yet
Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: Carbon filter, small dose of aquarium salt
Tank inhabitants: 4 x guppy, 1x dojo loach, 1x pleco, 6x tiny snails
Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):
Exposure to chemicals: yes, meds, listed above
Digital photo (include if possible): nonconclusive, but could provide if needed
I'm on my second attempt now of a freshwater planted 10 gallon tank. My first time around with this very same tank, I was going fine for a few weeks, water levels look great, doing my regular water changes, then, about six weeks in, after purchasing an awesome knife fish to finish my tank, everything died over the course of a night. I woke to find ammonia levels through the roof and all my fish had a strange whiteish coating on them. I treated the survivors with a dip in antifungal meds (the powder based type by API) and treated the tank with Pima-fix Indian bay leaf, plant safe antifungal treatment. No luck, I had 100% mortality, all from similar fungal looking causes, while my ammonia levels stayed sky-rocketted, even with ammochips being used.
I eventually drained the tank, washed everything in hot water, boiled my lava rock and drift wood, then reset the tank with just the plants.
I used the "feeding method" (where you feed the tank a small amount of food on a daily basis to get the nitrogen cycle started), and daily usage of Stability, new tank bacterial supplement. After a week, I checked my pH, KH, and N levels. All great, pH lowish at 6.5, and almost no ammonia, NO[sub]2[/sub] or NO[sub]3[/sub].
I decided to stock my tank, with a dwarf pleco, four fancy guppies and two loaches. I <3 loaches.
This was two days ago. Today, one of the loaches is dead, with partial fin rot. The other loach is lethargic, with a similar fungus like coating, albeit in a very small amount. Two guppies also appear to suffer some slight fin rot, in addition to white tips on their fins. I placed all the sickly creatures in my hospital tank, with a solution of stress coat, aquarium salt, and fungal cure, all diluted to volume. I let them all swim in this for a few minutes, then placed them back in the general populace.
After taking chem readings, I saw that the pH is low, at 6, and the ammonia levels were approaching 1.0 ppm. I have since treated the water with TopFin ammo control solution, and the ammonia levels are dropping.
Sorry if this is too much info, but I'm afraid of another Freshwater Apocalypse. I can't wait to setup my 55 gallon tank and forget all these daily chemical swings.
Tank size:10 g
pH: 6.25~
ammonia: 1.0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: .2
kH: 0
gH: 0
tank temp: 75ºF
Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): Some fish have whitish coating on fins, and near head
Volume and Frequency of water changes: newer tank, no water change yet
Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: Carbon filter, small dose of aquarium salt
Tank inhabitants: 4 x guppy, 1x dojo loach, 1x pleco, 6x tiny snails
Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):
Exposure to chemicals: yes, meds, listed above
Digital photo (include if possible): nonconclusive, but could provide if needed
